Benjamin Franklin as a Self Made Man essays

Benjamin Franklin as a Self Made Man essays As a young man, Benjamin Franklin knew poverty. His family had little money, and he helped in his father's candle and soap factory by the time he was ten. Young Franklin had little formal schooling. He remembered, "I continued, however, at the grammar-school not quite one year, though in that time I had risen gradually from the middle of the class of that year to be the head of it" (Franklin 3). He loved to read, and this was one of the things that led him to eventual success. He wrote, "From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books" (Franklin 5). His rise to fame and fortune is quite amazing when considering his beginnings, which were quite humble. His father apprenticed him to his brother James when Franklin was only twelve; so much of his early life was spent laboring, rather than learning. This makes his later years even more amazing, when he was known for his wit and writings. By the time he was sixteen, he was writing anonymous essays for his brother's newspaper, and his writing was already becoming popular with readers. One historian wrote, "Virtually all of his writing arose from particular circumstances, served an immediate purpose, and had a deliberate intent. If we may judge from the abundant written remains, his thought and philosophy grew hand in hand with the full life he led" (Ketcham 4). Eventually, young Benjamin took over the paper from his brother, but his writings were so controversial that it did not succeed. He noted, "During my brother's confinement, [] notwithstanding our private differences, I had the management of the paper; and I made bold to give our rulers some rubs in it (Franklin 9). At the age of seventeen, he left Boston and traveled to Philadelphia, where he really began to make a name for himself, but struggled with poverty and positions. Throughout all hi...